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Ivorywd : Wood exports from Cote dIvoire cause deforestation Nigeria : Italian toxic dumping in Nigeria
Saotome: Tourism leading to environmental problems Additional cases on West Africa and Food:
Angfish : Overfishing in Angola Botswana : Cattle raising takes up large area
Cocoa : Cote dIvoires cocoa trade harming the environment Senegal-groundnut : Senegals dependence on groundnuts
Additional cases on child labor: Kathylee : Kathie Lee Giffords clothing line produced by child labor
Beedi : Child labor in India used to produce cigarettes Nike : Use of child labor in Nike sweatshops in Pakistan
Rugmark : Labeling program that monitors child labor violations in Indian rug industry
4. Author and Date:
Samlanchith Chanthavong, April 2002
II. Legal Clusters
5. Discourse and Status: Agreement and In Progress 6. Forum and Scope: Cote dIvoire and Multilateral
7. Decision Breadth: 2 8. Legal Standing: Treaty
Cote dIvoires involvement with not only child slave labor, but also with child trafficking makes promoting childrens rights an urgent task in the human rights community. Ever
since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been statements condemning human rights violations of children such as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child
1924 and 1959, both of which state that children have the right, among other important
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ones, to be protected from exploitation UNICEF. However, none of them were legally binding. Presently though, some childrens rights conventions have emerged that do
carry the weight of international law. Two of the most prominent are the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILOs Convention 138 and 182.
Convention on the Rights of the Child One of the most comprehensive conventions to address human rights violations of
children is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child CRC. The CRC names certain principles and standards that are aimed at protecting children in the
social, political, and economic arenas. The nations who ratify the Convention are obligated to undertake concrete legislative action in order to comply with the standards.
To ensure that the member countries comply, they must submit reports to show the progress of their efforts. Meanwhile, there is also an independent committee that
monitors their actions. The Convention emphasizes that cooperation from these nations and civil society are important in order for action to be effective. Cote dIvoire has
ratified the CRC and therefore is legally bound to vigilantly guard against violations of its principles. As the recent exposure of child slave labor in the cocoa farms illustrates, the
country has to stepped up its efforts to address this problem. Especially relevant to the case of the Ivorian slave labor are the following articles: Article 1 defines a child is a
person who is below eighteen years of age. Article 32 declares that nations must recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous…or be harmful to the childs health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Article 35 explicitly states that
countries must stop child trafficking; that they must take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measure to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in
children for any purpose or in any form UNICEF.
ILO Convention 138 and 182 The International Labor Organization, whose aim it is to create plans that encourage
respect for human rights at work, is composed of national governments, workers groups, and employers organizations. Nations that ratify ILO Conventions must ascribe
to the legally-binding standards of the document. The ILO has also set up monitoring committees to check up and report on countries progress. The ILO Conventions 138
and 182 are especially pertinent to Cote dIvoire as they specifically address child labor ILO.
Convention 138 was adopted in 1973 and established the minimum age for a child to be able to work. The age was set to fifteen or the age in which the children fulfill the
minimum educational requirements of their countries. It calls for the absolute eradication of any form of child labor. Article 1 states that, Each member…undertakes to pursue a
national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labor and to raise progressi
vely the minimum age for admission to employment …to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons ILO.
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Since the ILO recognizes that child labor is often times a function of underdevelopment- an issue that realistically cannot be resolved quickly-Convention 138s goals are
oriented towards the long-term. However, the cessation of certain types of child labor cannot be postponed no matter what development status a nation occupies. Therefore
in 1999 the ILO adopted Convention 182 to swiftly combat the worst forms of child labor. This category of labor as stated in Article 3 includes all forms of slavery or
practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and force
d or compulsory labor… The Convention requires governments to employ every instrument in their power to end the worse forms of child labor, with the
collaboration of workers and employers groups, and NGOs as mandated by Article 6. The Convention actually spells out a set of programs that the governments should
follow, including identifying the violations, educating society about the harmfulness of child labor, and effectively punishing the violators and also how to go about taking
those actions using data collection, regional coordination, and cooperation with civil society. Initially Cote dIvoire had not ratified either Convention 138 or Convention 182.
However, the government has recently voted to ratify them and the ratification will be formally presented at the National Assembly in August 2002. This is an important step
as it adds to motivate the Ivorian government to be more dedicated in its initiative to address child labor, especially with the slave labor occurring on the cocoa farms ILO.
WTO and Labor Standards Currently the WTO does not have any rules addressing labor standards. There is
actually a debate going on concerning whether or not the WTO has the responsibility to include labor considerations as part of its trading principles. Some member countries
argue that in order to improve labor conditions, actions such as trade sanctions by the WTO should be a potential instrument. These countries insist that trade and labor
standards are necessarily related. Developed countries often cite, for instance, the GATT Article XX that allows governments to implement trade restrictions in order to
protect public morals and human life and health. However, the less developed countries contend that to officially dictate labor standards through the WTO is merely an
excuse to impose a form of protectionism aimed at hindering these countries competitiveness. Indeed the comparative advantage of many of these countries is
inexpensive labor. Developing countries believe that attempting to give the WTO discretion over labor standards would go against the principles of the WTO. It is an
institution whose purpose is to promote and ensure free trade, not to judge the morality of domestic policies of individual countries. As for Article XX, the countries argue that
the statement pertains to what occurs in the country that is importing products, not the
exporting countries and their policies Grace, In Focus…. They say that once economic conditions improve, labor violations would decrease by themselves. At
present the WTO leaves issues of labor to the International Labor Organization WTO.
Cote dIvoire Labor Laws The national labor laws of the country set the minimum age at 18 for hazardous work;
at 16 for light underground work; and 12 for light agricultural work. While the Ivorian
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Ministry of Labors record on preventing violations of these laws in the formal employment sector is a success, they have not been as effective in the informal sector
or in hidden areas Dept. of Labor, which happen to be where the guilty cocoa farms are located. Meanwhile education laws have not been enforced effectively and therefore
contribute to the ease in which children can drift into the employment sector. Legally, children must attend school until they are sixteen years old. However, many children
who are only twelve or thirteen quit school due to poverty and end up going to work, without much prevention from local authorities US Dept. of Labor.
III. Geographic Clusters
